Sleeping bag Q/A

[hikemikehike]

Im looking into buying a new sleeping bag. the one i have is synthetic and i just downsized my pack and im looking to shed some weight. im looking for a bag i use this summer on the AT and also out on the LT in early august. Realistically how cold does it get summer nights on the AT and in august out in vermont? i know this is a very broad question with a range of answers but im just looking for general on average answers. whatcha got?

[XCskiNYC]

Hope this gives you some <a href="http://www.trailquest.net/weather.html">weather</a>information.[/URL][URL="http://www.trailquest.net/weather.html"] (http://www.trailquest.net/weather.html)

[XCskiNYC]

Try this instead http://www.trailquest.net/weather.html

[hikemikehike]

awesome source. much thanks

[Papa D]

Remember that sleeping bag ratings (with the exception of sherpa adventure gear, western, and feathered friends) are over-rated and are "survival ratings" - not comfort ratings. You will not be very comfortable in a 30 degree bag at a temp of 30 degrees.
Now, in August, in Vermont it will not likely be colder than 45 degrees at night so you can probably get a 40 degree synthetic bag and pair that with a down sweater and bag liner and get by fine. A synthetic bag is also nice because if it gets wet, it's not too hard to dry out and it's retains its loft for the most part. For sustained temps that are cooler than 40 degrees, synthetic bags start to get too heavy and bulky - that is when I transition to a down bag.
I hiked the LT last July and a 40 degree synthetic bag was fine - on a couple of cooler rainy nights, i wore my stocking cap which was plenty

[dla]

I'm a 3-season sortof backpacker. That means I don't really like waking up to 6" of new snow, because it makes the trail difficult. I don't mind watching the snow fall from under my tarp, comfy in my 20*f down bag. Most of the time it doesn't get much below 30*f when it is snowing, and a 20*f bag is OK. I've gone to bed when it is 70*f, and I have the bag opened up and just barely draped over me.

So that is a long way to say that I like a 20*f bag, for a one bag solution. If you have enough $, you can own a couple different solutions.